A poem by Sam Friedman
We, who remember how Presidents spat bile on junkies and fags, said Never Ever Never as they banned syringe exchange, and hid smiles of glee behind crocodile tears as AIDS deaths soared like the stocks of Dow Jones and Big Pharma, we, who remember, we, who cried, while the rich got richer as nurses used and re-used home-made masks that leaked during intubations, we, who watched Big Pharma grow fat from selling vaccines only to the countries of the rich as with ART for years, even decades as the viruses decimated the poor like the Roman legions, the Nazis, or G.I.s in lands they conquered, we, who remember, we, who cry, watch the ways of the powerful, watch the wiles of the rich while they use us, use you, lower our pay, deny coverage and sick leave, they who prosper when I/you/we sicken, when I/you/we die. We, who remember, we, who cried then as we cry now, knew no surprise at the millions they let die. We, who remember, we, who cry, have learned what to hate, and we use our years and hours thinking, pondering who are we, who are they, how our we might ever unite to tear down their edifice of power, their edifice of hate, and we who remember will never forgive and never forget.